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The biggest step I have taken, so far, in learning about the industry has been visiting American Alarm and Communications, back in December. This helped me learn a lot more about this side of the industry, to see first hand how one central station handles things.

Much like putting a face to a name, seeing the workings of American Alarm’s central station helped me piece together a bit more about how the industry works. It then sparked the idea to start an occasional series of articles along the same concept.

Now I’ll be visiting various monitoring centers to see how each one works and—more importantly—what makes each unique, as well as the new ways any company might be reshaping its station or its offerings in the future.

My next visit is with Centra-Larm, the wholesale monitoring center based, not too far from the SSN office, in Manchester, N.H.—I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be interesting to hear about how this company does monitoring. Check back in next week for a full article on my visit.

Christopher Carney, a former director of finance M&A and director of finance, sales and marketing for ADT, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for his new company, Abode Systems.

The 45-day campaign aims to raise $100,000 by May 7 to bring the “new kind of home security and automation solution to market,” Carney said in a prepared statement. The solution “will put big security companies on notice,” he said.

Carney co-founded Abode, based in Palo Alto, Calif., with Brent Franks, previously an account executive with salesforce.com and EVP and co-founder of TerraSmart, a turnkey solar ground mount provider.

The DIY Abode system puts the customer in charge by allowing them to customize, he said.

"My last decade in home security showed me that big security companies have serious flaws and don't consider the changing lifestyles of today's consumers or accommodate new technologies and devices coming to market," CEO Carney said. “When developing Abode, we had a vision for a self-installable security system that grows with you and your evolving needs, while also remaining capable of utilizing new technologies next month, next year, or further down the road."

Carney said the system offers portability in that it can be transferred to a new home with no reinstallation costs; it eliminates false alarms by sending real-time visual verification and, through its built-in body analysis technology, by being able to tell the difference between people and animals; has a built-in backup power and a 3G radio for use when Internet connections are lost; provides home automation capabilities at no extra cost; can be controlled through a web portal and mobile app; and has an optional 24-hour monitoring available.

The system includes the Abode gateway, motion camera, streaming camera, door and window sensors and key fob.

If you're the Top Twitterer, you'll not only get your message out, you'll be the recipient of a Top Twitterer plaque. If you visit the SIA office, you can see their handsome "Top Twitterer" plaque in the office lobby.

As some of you may know, I joined the industry in November when I started at Security Systems News. This means that 2015 will be my first time at the ISC West show. I'd love to meet everyone, and hear everything, but that might not be possible, so reach out to me when you can. I already have several appointments set up, but I’ll be as accommodating as I can be.

Also, give me a heads up on what you’d like to talk about. Definitely tell me if your company will be showcasing something big at ISC West, like mergers and acquisitions, new directions for the company, opening another central station or releasing a new software platform—or anything else notable.

If you want to meet me, or have something new to talk about with your company, feel free to reach out to me by email at sives@securitysystemsnews.com to set something up. Just let me know what you’ll be doing at ISC West and where.

I look forward to seeing those of you who will be at the show in person!

Tyco Security Products announced yesterday that it wants to invest in tech startups and other “innovators.” TSP, a division of Tyco International, launched InnovationWorks, a program designed to “help innovators and entrepreneurs bring new and advanced ideas to the marketplace.”

TSP is soliciting applicants who will present their “business ideas and goals” at the InnovationWorks Summit that will take place during ISC West (April 15-17) in Las Vegas.

Applications will be reviewed by TSP VP of marketing Anita Santos (Santos is also an SEC accredited investor and owner of Ascend Investments), Tyco VP of corporate development Robert Locke, and other TSP managers.

I have an interview request in to Santos. In a prepared statement, she said: “We encourage all those with creative products and ideas to submit an application on the InnovationWorks website.”

Before the ADT vs. APT case went to trial in February, a federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction preventing Alarm Protection Technology from using its APT acronym. So the company temporarily dropped the “T” and went by Alarm Protection, according to the company’s general legal counsel, Adam Christian.

The company could go back to using its full name now that it has won its case, Christian said, but is opting instead to go with Alder.

“Alder, comes from alder tree. We like the symbol of the tree. It’s a tree of protection, a tree of opportunity and it reflects family as well,” Christian said.

It also reflects the company’s future expected growth and expansion of services, he said, declining to comment specifically on what that service expansion will include.

“There will be other services that are closely aligned with protection and our interests,” he said.

The report said the deal should be valued at about “$1.5 billion, including debt.”

Blackstone has hired investment bank Credit Suisse Group AG to explore the sale, the report said.

The report quoted an AlliedBarton spokeswoman saying that it’s “the right time for a new private equity sponsor.”

That timing seems right or even a little overdue as PE generally holds a company for three to five years.

According the report, Blackstone has owned AlliedBarton for six years. Blackstone acquired AlliedBarton from Ronald Perelman’s MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings in 2008 for up to $750 million, Rueters said.

Rueters said AlliedBarton has EBITDA of $150 million.

AlliedBarton, based in Conshohocken, Pa., has more than 55,000 employees and 120 offices.

Last week, AvantGuard’s CEO, Josh Garner, told me a story. He had recently heard of a woman recovering from a fall, one who was set up with a traditional PERS unit. After hearing that it wouldn’t work outside of the home, she hadn’t left the house for 15 months, he said. After a dealer heard of this, he set her up with one of Securus’ mPERS devices.

“Eventually, she took a walk to the garden, then she walked down the street,” Garner told me. “She would test her device in all of these scenarios, and realized that if something were to happen to her… it still worked.”

“She celebrated by buying a puppy [which] she walks around her block every day.”

In the March issue of Security Systems News we launched a new series of stories dedicated to Women in Security Technology. It's a topic I've written about frequently. Here's a blog I wrote last May when I was at PSA-TEC and interviewed IST's Christine Lanning (who was also subsequently featured in our Women in Security feature in November.)

We decided to formalize the topic of Women in Security Technology into a series last month after I interviewed Ellen Cargill, CTO for video surveillance provider Scallop Imaging. Here's that story in case you missed it.

Since I wrote that story I've heard from a few people with suggestions of women to interview for the series, so I'm happy to have some interviews lined up and I'm looking for more. If you know a woman who works in a technical/technology role in the physical security industry who would be perfect for this series, please email me at mentwistle@securitysystemsnews.com

In February, Security Partners appointed Rick Guzman to the role of west coast operations manager, where he will be overseeing both the new Las Vegas facility as well as the Anaheim facility. I got to speak with Guzman, as well as Bob Schott, director of information technologies at Security Partners, about what this role will entail.

A big item currently on Rick’s plate is getting the Las Vegas location ready for its opening ceremony at ISC West.

In order to meet this date, Guzman is hoping to get the facility up and running by the beginning of April.

Anything special planned for the ceremony? Other than tours, there are a couple of surprises planned, Schott said.

“A priority is people. … Making sure that we have enough people to take care of both facilities, the current dealer base, and also to be prepared for the growth we’re looking at,” Guzman said.

Part of this growth might come from the ability to show the new facility at ISC West, they said.

“Rick is also going to be a key player in establishing that continuity between the four central stations, evaluating best practices across the organization and putting that into production,” Schott said.

Schott said this will involve weekly evaluations with the staff in each location, and “taking the best of what each of our four centers have to offer, and then translating that into a standard operating procedure for the entire organization.”

Another duty for Guzman is connecting both of these facilities with the network of Security Partners’ other facility in San Antonio, and headquarters in Lancaster, Pa. This involves a redundancy to a point where each location could handle communications from all four stations at one time.